Gerhard Loewenberg, University of Iowa professor emeritus and former dean, will read from his new memoir, Moved by Politics, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, in Prairie Lights Books in downtown Iowa City. The reading also will be streamed live on the UI Writing University website.

The event is free and open to the public.

In his memoir, Loewenberg tells of 12 experiences in his life that were firsts for him: his arrival in America as a 7-year-old immigrant in 1936; entering college; his discovery of political science as a profession; and becoming dean of the UI College of Liberal Arts (now named the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences).

Loewenberg’s memoir shows how politics have had a profound influence on his life. Politics were the reason for leaving Nazi Germany, they were pivotal to everyday life as World War II unfolded, and they were the focus of his own studies in becoming a political scientist. He tells of his experience being on the administrative side of university politics during the turmoil of the 1960s and ’70s.

Loewenberg is a Fulbright scholar, co-founder of the Legislative Studies Quarterly, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a recipient of the American Political Science Association’s Frank J. Goodnow Award for Distinguished Service. He lives in Iowa City.

For more information or special accommodations to attend this reading, call Jan Weissmiller at Prairie Lights, 319-337-2681. For a UI arts calendar and details about upcoming events visit the new Arts Iowa website.